Pgma's State of the Nation Address

Reaction on PGMA's State of the Nation Address

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's SONA or State of the Nation Address last July 25, 2005 was, for me, evasive yet revolutionary. She made no reference to the burning issues rocking her administration, including allegations that she had stolen the 2004 presidential election and that her husband, son and brother-in-law had accepted payoffs from the "jueteng" racket. I share the same sentiments with House Minority Leader Francis Escudero who said that the SONA did not address the basic issues confronting our country involving cheating, lying and stealing, by some people in the government and by a privileged few. "She also expectedly echoed the line of JDV and FVR on Charter Change by way of paying off her political debt for their having 'saved' her. On the whole, as expected, she was less than honest, forthright and candid with respect to the true state of the nation."

I also think that she told the members of the House what they wanted to hear. Her SONA focused on the proposed Charter Change which will push for the shift to the federal- parliamentary form of government but that's basically it. She evaded issues on impeachment charges and electoral fraud and quoting one House Representative, "it's a way to get around it by not talking about it." She also discarded details of economic and fiscal reform with a blanket restatement of her commitment to these goals. I also noticed that it is quite true that GMA did the speaking but Ramos did the talking. Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casino even said "she has lost not only her credibility and integrity but also her own thoughts. And imagine, she's spending billions for Cha-cha just to save her skin."

On the other hand, I think her SONA was quite revolutionary in the sense that it will create fundamental changes in the government. I also appreciated when she appealed for unity and for the people's help. She said that "now is not the time for divisiveness, and while there's no avoiding partisan politics, there can be a determined effort by all sides to limit the collateral damage on a country poised for takeoff. We may disagree among ourselves but let us never lose sight of that greater battle for one people, one country, one Philippines. Not the country of this or that President